Gainey: Police chief will be announced within 2 weeks
Pittsburgh officials will announce the city’s next police chief within two weeks, Mayor Ed Gainey said Tuesday on local public radio.
“Yesterday we went through the last of the finalists,” Mr. Gainey said on WESA’s The Confluence. “It’s been whittled down to a certain number.”
He declined to say how many finalists there are but said they include both internal and external candidates. He did not reveal whether any of the external candidates are former Pittsburgh police officers.
The day-long event Monday involved finalists meeting with Mr. Gainey’s executive team, representatives from the union representing Pittsburgh officers and community members. Mr. Gainey said the finalists “were all very good, and one will be selected.
“Within the next two weeks we’ll be announcing Pittsburgh’s next chief of police,” Mr. Gainey said, noting he believes the city has enough to offer that the finalist his chooses will accept the offer.
Former Chief Scott Schubert left the bureau in July, and Thomas Stangrecki has been acting chief since then. It was not clear whether Chief Stangrecki has applied for the permanent job.
City officials initially said they hoped to have a chief in place by the end of 2022, though Mr. Gainey’s administration made clear that the process would not be rushed.
“We’re looking at the end of the year,” Mr. Gainey said in October, “[but] we have to have a timetable we can walk back. If things occur where we have to move it back, we’ll come back and we’ll talk to the public about it.”
In November, the city contracted with Public Sector Search & Consulting, a California-based firm, to assist in the search. The job was officially posted in January, and the application period ended Feb. 24, according to the firm’s website.